It Changes
by Dolores-the-Dip
Summary: While listening to 'It Changes' from Snoopy, Come Home, I decided to write this Season 3 one-shot. Enjoy (3:40 pm)


It Changes

A Next Chapter One Shot

(Takes place during most of Season 3, mainly _Auf Weidersehen, Hans_, _No Mo Mel_ and _Ace's Reborn_)

It had been a few days since Hans had moved away, and Marcie was beginning to ignore anyone trying to help her. Even Charlie Brown was getting concerned. He rarely got this depressed, and when he did, he had comfort from his parents, sister, Linus and Snoopy.

Charlie Brown tried to remember a time when he was in his deepest funk, but was struggling to remember a time when he was at his lowest. Then he remembered something. He began remembering when Snoopy had left to live with Lila and how he spent the first night without his loyal companion. He wanted to recall the time to Marcie, but didn't know if she'd understand or not. Besides, Snoopy returned after a few days; Hans wasn't coming back to Sparkyville.

Defeated, Charlie Brown decided not to recount the story to her, just in case she'd lash out on him or say that his story wasn't helpful. He was even fearing a kick to his shins or a belting across the chops. So one day, at lunch hour, he kept silent about Snoopy running away and just told Marcie that everything would be fine. She ignored him like the plague, which, he was expecting.

"Marcie?" he asked, wanting to be the best moral support ever. "Can I help in anyway? A hug? A kiss? Anything."

She responded by grabbing her lunch and walking to another table, leaving Charlie Brown alone again. Sighing, he thought, "I guess solitude counts."

When Snoopy left, Charlie Brown remembered how everyone's tears nearly flooded the house. Even Lucy couldn't keep dry-eyed during the going-away party. When Snoopy ran away the first time, though, everyone had blamed themselves. Linus blamed his hostility when Snoopy wanted his blanket, Lucy blamed her actions during their fight and Peppermint Patty thought she went off as too strong for him. Charlie Brown however felt the worst and said that he made Snoopy feel unwanted. After the incident, sometimes, Charlie Brown would hug Snoopy for no apparent reason. He never took Snoopy for granted again.

"Why is it that everyone we know leaves, at one point or another, Linus?" Charlie Brown asked as he rejoined Linus at their lunch table.

"That's the way life is, Charlie Brown. We all must part ways eventually. We all won't go to the same high school, or the same college or university, we might even live farther away from our friends than we ever imagined. Heck, remember when Lucy and I almost left town, Charlie Brown? Fate interfered and now look at us. We're still here." Linus explained.

"Thanks, Linus." Charlie Brown said after three utter minutes of silence. That really helped.

"Why the sudden interest though?" asked Linus in confusion.

"I was thinking…about when Snoopy left." Charlie Brown had to lie to his best friend. Besides, he was thinking about Snoopy nearly leaving forever, in some way or another.

"Snoopy's still here." Linus reminded.

"I used to think no one would care if I ran away, then I realized that I have you, Sally. Heck, even Lucy cares about me."

"But only cause you're her best customer."

"Yeah."

"She really cares about you though. When you were in the hospital, Lucy swore to never pull the football away again. She even cried on Schroeder's piano."

"True. What do you have for lunch?"

"Peanut butter."

"Same here."

Marcie sighed as she watched her friends talk together, wondering why life was so unfair. Just when she and Hans were beginning a new chapter in their lives, he had to leave for Germany. It was not like Pierre, who she lost contact with. She understood Hans for two years, only for him to be taken away. Why was life like this? She was aware that everyone she knew was going to leave eventually, but why did her first stable relationship end so early?

Did that also mean that the rest of her friends would leave her, or was Hans' leaving a wake up call that romance isn't a forever thing? Eventually, someone severs the ties with relationships. Maybe that was why people divorce, she thought.

Why did her friends care so much about her when her boyfriend left? Did they feel sorry for her? Did they realize that their significant other could've been boarding that plane? Or did they realize that nothing lasts forever? It didn't matter to her, as she began letting her depression drown her, like a helpless victim in quicksand.

_Just when you think that you know where you stand _

_You've got the world in your hand_

_Just when you're sure of a dream that you planned _

_That's when the scenery changes_

_It changes. _

A few months later, Franklin sighed as he watched Melanie leave to go to a special school in another city. He got a real rude awakening when he realized that they couldn't remain in touch. He felt responsible for her moving away. Why couldn't she remember how to make her math equations like cheers? Why couldn't she understand the history lessons? Was it his fault? Did making multiplications like cheers become too complicated? What did Franklin do wrong as a boyfriend?

_Just when you think that you know all the facts _

_You hold the whole ball of wax _

_You've got it made, you can start to relax _

_That's when your world rearranges_

_And changes._

Franklin missed being someone's Frankie, and Marcie missed being someone's Freundin. They both missed someone they were with for years. They were both in a funk and a bit miffed by fate. For Marcie, felt like no one understood what it was like to lock themselves up in their room to hide from the reality that their boyfriend, or girlfriend, was halfway around the world.

For Franklin, he felt that no one understood that what Melanie lacked in brains, she made up for with her heart of gold. He tried effortlessly to help her, but her ditsy personality wasn't aiding her grades. Now he feared that he was losing the only thing he cared about for the past two years.

They were two different kids with the same problem

_Someone that you really cared about _

_Someone that you couldn't live without _

_Severs the ties._

_All at once you're all alone and scared _

_All the happy hellos that you shared _

_Change to goodbyes._

_Why must we pay for hellos that we say? _

_Pay when we sigh an adieu? _

_Just when you're sure, and you're safe and secure_

_That's when it happens to you _

_It changes._

"Why can't we get all the people together in the world that we really like, and then just stay together forever? Someone would leave. Someone always leaves. And then we'd have to say goodbye. I hate goodbyes." Charlie Brown asked Lucy a few days before Valentine's day. All she could do was shrug.

_Why must we pay for hellos that we say? _

_Pay when we sigh an adieu? _

_Just when you're sure, and you're safe and secure, _

_That's when it happens to you _

_It changes._

_Why oh, why?_

"You know what I need? I need more hellos." Charlie Brown let that phrase echo through his mind as he walked over to Ace's. the reconstruction was going along well, and he was more than anticipating going there with Frieda once it was reconstructed. He wasn't the only one who was giddy with glee though.

Franklin had told his friend that he had a date that he was going to get ready for, but when Charlie Brown asked who the lucky girl was, Franklin replied with one sentence: "She's always been fond of you." Now, Charlie Brown wasn't one to get in on juicy gossip, but he had to know who Franklin was talking about. He kept begging for more clues on who the girl was, but eventually gave up on trying. It could be the little red haired girl, for all he knew.

Eventually, while in a lineup at Ace's, Franklin decided to reveal who his lucky date was, and the reveal that he and Marcie had gotten together was everything but a surprise to the others. Although, Charlie Brown did smile when Marcie called Franklin 'Frankie', he was wondering how Melanie and Hans were doing. Did they miss their old boyfriend and girlfriend respectively? Did they move on? Would they ever reunite again but remain good friends? Charlie Brown decided that asking questions wasn't a good idea, and figured that he should let everything unfold naturally.

Everything was fine.

**THE END**

'**It Changes' **by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman


End file.
